Railway-switch



(No Model.)

1?. VANELL.

. RAILWAY SWITCH. No. 279,509. Patented June 12,1883.

N, PEYKRS. Fhnin-Lllhogrlphcr. Waxhnglun. 11c,

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE. I

FRANK VANELL, or VINOENNES, INDIANAF RAILWAY-SWITCH.-

SPEGIFIGATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 279,509, dated June 12, 1883.

Application filed February 24, 1883. (NomodcL) To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, FRANK VANELL, a citizen of the United States, residing at Vincennes, in the county of Knox and State of Indiana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Railway-Switches; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact de scription of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, and to letters or figures of reference marked thereon, which forms a part of this specification.

The drawing is a plan view of my railwayswitch. p

This invention has relation to railroadswitches; and it consists in the construction and novel arrangement of devices, as hereinafter set forth, and particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawing, the letter A designates the rails of the main track, and B and B, respectively, the rails of the right and left side tracks, it being designed to illustrate the invention in its application to a double or three-throw switch. For such a switch the stand S, for the operating-lever U, is located at the side of the lead about opposite its middle portion. Four sidelevers, d, d, d, and d, are arranged in endwise relation along the lead, at the side of the siding next the switch-stand. The adjacent ends of these levers are connected by coupling-plates i, which are preferably arranged transversely in order to allow the ends of the levers the required play when they are vibrated by means of the operating-lever U. Each horizontal side lever is pivoted to a fulcrum-plate, I), which is firmly secured to a tie about midway between the ends of said lever. Also, secured to ties, near the ends of each l'e-' ver, are the slide-bearings c and the guards 0,

between which the arms of the lever move.

g 9 represent the spring-rails at the singletrack end of thelead, said rails being connected and held in parallel'relation by the connecting bars 6, to which the flanges of the rails are fastened. The connection 0, at the movable ends of these rails, extends and is pivoted to the outer ends of the first side lever, 11. At the opposite end of the lead an interval is made between the ends of the fixed rails A of the main track, and in this interval are arranged the pivoted main slide-rails K, which are provided with Slotbearingsf on each side for the passage of the pivot-boltsf, near the center or at the center of each slide-rail. These sliderails K are held in parallel relation by means of connecting bars or rods e, and near each end the connectingbar is provided with an extension, as at e, which is pivoted to the end of the fourth side lever, 11. Between the fixed rails of the main-track section, which extends from the springing rails g to the slide rails K, are a fixed angle, V, formed by fixed sections R R of the side-track inner rails, and a movable or springing angle, V. The apexes of these angles are toward each other, meeting at m, and their bases are at opposite ends of the lead, the base of the fixed angle having its rail ends even with the ends of the intermediate rails, A, of the main track, which are in juxtaposition to the slide-rails K. The base of the springing angle is at the opposite end of the lead, its rail ends being fixed, as indicated at o, and in line with the ends of the main rails A, which are in juxtaposition to the ends of the springing rails g. The springing rails (I, which form the angle V, are connected by bars or rods c, and at the small end of the angle, where the rails are near est together, the connection is provided with an extension, (2, which is connected to the end of the second side lever, d, or to the third side lever, d, as may be found most convenient.

This switch is easily constructed, and requires neither frogs nor guard-rails. A simple vibratory movement of the operating-lever U moves all the side levers, and thereby at the same time vibrates the main-track slide-rails K, the springing rails a of the angle V, and

the main-track springing rails y, thereby open-- ing the way by the'main track or either switch, according to requirement.

- .Having described this invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,

1. 'In a railroad-switch, the combination, with the main-track springing rails g and the main-track sliderails K, of the side-track springing angle V and the fixed angle V, be-

tween the rails A of the intermediate mainmain-track springing rails g, and the maintrack slide-rails K, of the fixed angle V, the springing angle V, andthe side levers arranged in endwise relation and connected by coupling-plates, substantially as specified.

In testimony whereof I affiX my signature in presence of two witnesses.

FRANK VANELL.

\Vitnesses:

M. P. GHEE, JOHN K. OAsn. 

